Two Weeks of Training

Training:
Since the vacation week of workouts was easy (and boring), I combined the last two weeks of training into one post.

January 18-23 (The Warm Weather)

Training during my vacation week was low key.  My husband and I ran together, but we didn’t stress about running.  I didn’t do any workouts because I was recovering from the Carlsbad half marathon.

We ran easy miles and enjoyed the beautiful weather and change of scenery.  Easy miles are boring and except for the-the views, nothing eventful happened.

Speaking of views:

Watching the sun rise was one of the best parts of our runs.  Especially since we never left East Coast time, it felt like we were running at 10 am.

As I mentioned on Friday, I jumped into a local 5k last weekend.  In summary,  the race was on a moderate course and after running and hiking all week I was extremely pleased with my time.  It was my second fastest 5k in the last two years (behind my PR).  We weren’t expecting to race so we didn’t taper.

January 24-31 (The cold weather)

Monday:	Easy run at Point Loma
Tuesday:	OFF
Wednesday:	6X1 mile repeats (6:24 pace) 4 miles warm-up, cooldown
Thursday:	Easy miles
Friday:	Easy miles
Saturday:	Easy run
Sunday:	10k tempo run
Total:	70 miles

Monday was my favorite run because we were still in California. 

 

Workout Wednesday: 6×1 mile hill repeats (average 6:24 pace)
I took Tuesday off which is probably why my average pace was significantly faster than usual (8 seconds per mile is a lot).  I felt good during the workout.

I slammed into a wall of negativity during the 5th mile.  I was breathing hard, my quads were on fire, and I was cold.  Luckily I toned my negativity down and reminded myself I just had 15 mins left.  I ran a 6:35 mile regrouped and came back on number 6 to run a 6:17.

I was surprised when I got home and saw that my miles repeats were the fastest I’ve done.  It did not feel effortless, and I knew I had been working hard.

My Saucony Zealots have a lot of miles on them now, so I decided to replace them with the Saucony Kinvara.  I’m surprised with how much I like them.  I’ll post a review when I’ve run a few more times in the Kinvaras. 

I wasn’t going to run on Friday, but my husband asked if I wanted to join him.  We ended up running 7 miles around the neighborhood.

Saturday was another easy run and Sunday (today); I did a 6-mile tempo run.  I felt good during the tempo.  It did not feel as if I was going “all out” and racing but it did feel challenging.

There aren’t too many races this month which is fine because I’ve raced plenty in the last six months.

Thoughts:
Both weeks went well for me.  I had a great month of training and racing for January.  My plan for February is to get quality workouts in preparation for a few bigger Spring Races.  I will jump into a few races in February, but I’m not planning to taper for any.

Questions for you:
What was your best workout recently?
Would you rather run in the snow or on the treadmill?
If it’s icy and snowy, I’ll run inside.  It’s not worth another fall to me.